Search the dictionary Advanced Search

How to use the Ojibwe People's Dictionary

zhaabowe vai es
Listen

s/he sings an accompaniment (of women)



inzhaabowe 1s ind; ninzhaabowe 1s ind; nizhaabowe 1s ind; zhaabowe 3s ind; zhaabowed 3s conj; zhayaabowed 3s ch-conj; Stem: /zhaabowe-/

nizhaabowe1s ind es
Listen

ls
Listen

zhaabowe3s ind es
Listen

ls
Listen

zhaabowed3s conj es
Listen

ls
Listen

zhayaabowed3s ch-conj gh
Listen

gii-shaabowe3s ind pst es
Listen

Mii ko ingiw ikwewag naadamaagewaad nagamong mii imaa zhaabowewaad ezhi-wiinjigaadeg.

When the women help with the singing they do what is called zhaabowe.
 ls
Listen

zhaabowe /zhaabowe-/: /zhaabw-/
going through
; /-owe/
s/he uses h/ voice

The Ojibwe People's Dictionary is developed and maintained by:
Nora Livesay, Editor
John D. Nichols, Founder and Linguistic Editor

with support and collaboration from the University of Minnesota's Department of American Indian Studies and University Libraries.

Additional Resources

Many of the words in the Ojibwe People's Dictionary have related resources. Click through to the full dictionary entry to hear audio recordings, see images, read documents and watch videos. Here's a key to resource icons.

  • Audio recordings
  • Images
  • Video
  • Documents

Speakers & Regions Key

Individual speakers and speakers from different regions use different words when speaking. Each audio recording is marked with the initials of the Ojibwe speaker. Click on a speaker's initials to go to the speaker's bio page. If an Ojibwe word is particular to a certain region, it will be marked with a region code. Click on the region code to go to the Regions page.